Nipping at rear, not able to poop. Anyway to help?

[Tatuana]

I know this is a mostly chicken based forum, but I'm desperate to help my cockatiel. I'm hoping she's close enough to a chicken that maybe someone has ANY ideas on what to do for her. I'm very sad and distressed.

Jazzie is... 24? Ish. She's a special needs bird. I think she has a deformed foot. She's never flown, breaks her tail feathers trying to clean them - she can't reach - and uses her wing to walk. She's a hunched over bird who struggles to climb bars. She has had a fantastic life, though!

Up until the last little while. I THOUGHT her chirping was her mate getting aggressive in cleaning her face (and by that I mean picking boogers out of her nose. She can't, and getting them out is kinda painful for her) I just realized yesterday that when she did it, her mate was nowhere near. And she was nipping at her side while she did it. Further inspection shows she's unable to poop. And I think that's why she's crying.

My only avian vet can see her Monday... He's on vacation out of the state. And there's nobody else even close. Clearly Monday is too late. Is there ANYTHING you can think of that I can do for her? Anything to check? She's been eating like the piggy she is. I haven't seen her at the water, though.

She's been raised on a seed diet. I've tried to get her to eat fruits/veggies for years with no success.

She's also very inactive/fat. She only goes to the food dish and back to her place in the cage. Up until now her quality of life had been fine. We're going to officially put her down soon, but I can't have her in pain until then.

Please help. I'm desperate and seeing her in pain breaks my heart.

 

[azygous]

I can understand, believe me. I have a sick hen right now that's not responding to treatment, and the thought of euthanizing her is very disturbing.

For chicken baby chicks that can't poop, I give them little tiny bits of solid coconut oil to soften the obstruction so they can poop. Your bird is sending out pain alarms because the condition hurts.

You have nothing to lose by trying this remedy, and hopefully it'll do the trick.

 

[Tatuana]

Thank you, I'll try that. I Also just had the thought to check her vent. Foe blockage, do you just check the outside? Or am I going to have to squeeze around?

I know it's time to say goodbye to her, but the thought of doing it myself... I just can't. I'm hoping to at least be able to keep her out of pain until Monday.

 

[azygous]

Yes, if she has a caked up vent, you'll need to clear it. Give the oil a try. These old birds don't grow this old unless they have a strong survival instinct.

 

[Eggcessive]

Here is an article about constipation and vent caking:
https://www.cockatiel.com/constipation.html

 

[Malikshahzad]

I know this is a mostly chicken based forum, but I'm desperate to help my cockatiel. I'm hoping she's close enough to a chicken that maybe someone has ANY ideas on what to do for her. I'm very sad and distressed.

Jazzie is... 24? Ish. She's a special needs bird. I think she has a deformed foot. She's never flown, breaks her tail feathers trying to clean them - she can't reach - and uses her wing to walk. She's a hunched over bird who struggles to climb bars. She has had a fantastic life, though!

Up until the last little while. I THOUGHT her chirping was her mate getting aggressive in cleaning her face (and by that I mean picking boogers out of her nose. She can't, and getting them out is kinda painful for her) I just realized yesterday that when she did it, her mate was nowhere near. And she was nipping at her side while she did it. Further inspection shows she's unable to poop. And I think that's why she's crying.

My only avian vet can see her Monday... He's on vacation out of the state. And there's nobody else even close. Clearly Monday is too late. Is there ANYTHING you can think of that I can do for her? Anything to check? She's been eating like the piggy she is. I haven't seen her at the water, though.

She's been raised on a seed diet. I've tried to get her to eat fruits/veggies for years with no success.

She's also very inactive/fat. She only goes to the food dish and back to her place in the cage. Up until now her quality of life had been fine. We're going to officially put her down soon, but I can't have her in pain until then.

Please help. I'm desperate and seeing her in pain breaks my heart.

Oh very sad

 

[tripletfeb]

You could also try giving her a warm bath. It might help her poop by relaxing her muscles. Hope she gets better, 24 is a good age for a cockatiel!

 

[Tatuana]

Thank you! Up until I got chickens I honestly didn't think of 90 percent of the things most chicken owners think are obvious. I wish I could go back to when I first adopted cockatiels and do it again with the knowledge I have now.

I have some coconut oil I'll poke down her. I'll also see if she can handle a bath. Wouldn't that stress out an animal if they've never been in one, though? I assume not everyone bathes their chicken once a week.

I'm thinking now that it's been a week or so since she went, based on the sounds she's been making. Ugh. Once again I feel terrible. I always seem to find these things when they're a Very Big Deal and not a minor problem. It's hard to tell with her since she's always been wonky. I've been looking at the chicken forums for an idea of why she's always limped as well. (Lemmie tell you, it's been enlightening! Still no idea, but I've learned a lot.)

 

[tripletfeb]

I don't think a warm bath would stress her out any more than she already is. Since you think it has been a week since she pooped, it can only help at this point! Good luck to you both!

 

[Tatuana]

Oh my gosh, the coconut oil worked!! Thank you! I poked some of that down with electrolytes. Her feet were cold and blue, which I now know from chickens is circulation. So after I poked oil down I researched some leg stretches for chickens and made her do those off and on. Aldo tossed her up in the air and caught her to get her moving. For a relax I massaged coconut oil into her dry feet. Lots of making her stand on her lame side and not using her wing as a crutch.

The result is she pooped on me this morning! I've never been so thrilled to be covered in crap. She's also a little perkier this morning. No more nipping at herself! Thank you thank you thank you!

Pretty sure she hates you all, though. She didn't like flying.